Chapter Twelve
Shayna smiled up at Ty when he squeezed her hand. “Are you nervous?”
“Maybe a little.” She looked around as they walked toward Eli’s office which, as Alexis had told her, was only a few blocks from the hotel.
“Do you want me to come in with you?”
“No, I’m good thanks. I’m not nervous about meeting Eli. I … I don’t know, I think this is the first time that it’s felt real. I’ve had it in my head for years and years that one day I’ll get to work as a therapist and help vets. But … it’s only ever been an idea. I haven’t pictured where I’d actually work.” She looked around again. “I hadn’t even considered it, but I suppose I’ll have to move to a city, won’t I? People are hardly going to come all the way to Summer Lake just to see me. I don’t see myself living in the city, though.”
He smiled. “Maybe you’ll build such a reputation for yourself that people will fly out to see you wherever you are.”
“Thanks, Ty, you’re sweet, but we both know that’s not likely to happen.”
“You never know, it might.” He touched the tip of her nose. “I know I’m prepared to travel to get to see you.”
She stopped walking and tugged on his hand. He came to her and wrapped his arms around her waist as he looked down into her eyes.
“Have I told you how awesome you are?”
He chuckled. “You might have said it once or twice, but I’ll never get tired of hearing it from you.” He leaned in and pecked her lips. “I know I’ve told you how awesome you are, but I’ll keep telling you …” He winked. “Over and over and over.”
Her cheeks burned as she slapped his arm. “I still can’t believe that you … that I …”
“Neither can I. I think I need to try again tonight, just to make sure that it wasn’t a one-off.”
She pressed her thighs together as heat spread between her legs. “I think we both know that it wasn’t a one-off. I think you could do that to me any time you wanted to.”
He smirked. “That sounds like an invitation.”
She slapped his arm. “You know what I mean! And fair’s fair, if you’re going to keep tormenting me like that, I might have to get my revenge.”
He ran his hand through his beard. “That wouldn’t be fair. I wouldn’t be able to hold back.”
She rested her hand in the middle of his chest, and loved the way he covered it with his own.
“You’re the one who made the rules.”
“I know and I wish I hadn’t but …” He looked more serious as held her gaze. “I’m still glad I did. I don’t think we’d be as close as we are this morning if we’d had sex last night.”
She nodded slowly. “You’re probably right. I would have done it, if you wanted to …”
He groaned. “Oh, I wanted to – maybe more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.”
She couldn’t help smiling – he really meant it. He wasn’t just feeding her bullshit.
“But I think sleeping together made me feel closer to you than sleeping with you would have.”
She laughed. “I think so, too, but it wasn’t exactly a platonic sleep, was it?”
They’d kept their underwear on, and the feel of his bare skin against hers had kept her in a state of arousal all night. His hands had wandered all over her body, and hers had done some exploring of their own. She loved the feel of his hard abs, his muscular arms, the way his powerful thighs felt when he wrapped his leg over hers when he spooned her.
She loved the glint in his eye as he shook his head. “Nope. But then there’s nothing platonic about this.”
He frowned and checked his watch. “Come on, we need to get you to Eli’s office. We can continue this conversation after you’re done.”
As they carried on walking, he slid his hand down and squeezed her ass, making her laugh. “You want to watch yourself, mister. You can’t keep teasing me and not expect me to start doing the same.”
He grinned at her. “You’re a walking temptation, Shay. You don’t need to do a damn thing.”
They reached Eli’s building and Ty pointed to the board in the lobby. “Fourth floor. I know you said you didn’t want me to come in with you. Is it okay if I ride up in the elevator with you?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way. I just want to make sure that you get to him okay. If you can, text me when you know what time you’ll be done. I’ll come up and meet you.”
“Thanks. He said that we’ll be done at four, but I’ll let you know if that changes.”
“Okay, if I don’t hear anything I’ll be here at four.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Shit. Am I being too much?”
“No! I kind of like it, but I need you to know that I can do this by myself. I’m not …”
He reached out and touched her cheek. “I know. All joking aside, I know you’re no babe in the woods. I know you’re not clueless. Come on, Shay, I know you can do any damn thing you set your mind to. You’re amazing. I just … I want to look out for you. More than that … I want to be around you.”
“Aw, thanks, Ty. I want to be around you, too.”
He pressed the button for the elevator, and when the doors opened, he stepped inside with her and cupped her face between his hands. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips.
She gripped his wrists and kissed him back. “This is the best weekend I’ve ever had.”
He held her gaze as he nodded. “Me too.”
They both dropped their hands when the doors opened and stepped out into the hallway.
Shay looked around and pointed. “There’s his office.”
“You good?”
“I am. I’ll text you if anything changes.”
“And if not, I’ll be here waiting for you at four.”
She wanted to kiss him again, but it didn’t seem right here. He seemed to understand. He winked and touched the tip of her nose.
“Have fun. Hope it goes well.”
“Thanks.”
She hurried down the hallway and knocked on the door.
“Come on in,” called a voice. “Is that you, Shayna?”
“It is.” She looked back at Ty, who was still standing by the elevators, and gave him the thumbs up.
He smiled and a little thrill ran through her when he touched the brim of his hat. She pushed the door open and went inside.
~ ~ ~
Once he was out on the street, Ty looked back up at the building. He hated leaving her, even for a couple of hours. Maybe that wasn’t so crazy, considering that they only had a couple of days together but … He blew out a big sigh. He was in trouble. She had him wrapped around her little finger, and she didn’t even know it.
He wanted to tell himself that it was the novelty of the whole thing. Maybe the warm feeling he had was partly relief that he was so attracted to her. That she was as sweet as she’d seemed. But it wasn’t any of that. She’d knocked him on his ass. No woman had ever affected him like this and … he shouldn’t even think it, but he doubted any other woman ever would.
He hurried across the road to the coffee shop that he’d spotted on the way here. It was only a couple hundred yards from Eli’s building – and that still felt like it was too far away from Shayna.
He went inside and joined the short line. He studied the board, and by the time it was his turn to order, he still hadn’t found anything that sounded like it was just a straight cup of coffee.
“What can I do for you?”
He eyed the girl behind the counter warily. He knew that tone, knew the look she was giving him. She was like the girls at Chico. Before Shayna, he’d enjoyed it – he wasn’t going to lie, even to himself. He liked knowing that a woman found him attractive and was giving him clear signals about what was on offer. Now, it meant nothing. That look in her eyes shone like a lighthouse – warning him to stay away from the rocks.
“Can I just get a black coffee?”
The girl smiled. “You can, but I can talk you through your options if you’re looking for something a little more adventurous.”
Damn. The way she ran her tongue over her bottom lip and folded her arms under her breasts – as if displaying the goods on offer – made him want to turn around and walk out. If this place wasn’t so close to where Shay was, he’d do just that.
Instead, he shook his head. “Just a straight black coffee, thanks. I get all the adventure I can handle at home.” It wasn’t exactly true, he didn’t have Shay at home, but he could dream.
The girl pouted and turned away. “Suit yourself.”
Once he was settled in a corner booth, he took his phone out and scrolled through their messages. She made him laugh. She was awesome, and even more so in person. He was already dreading the moment he’d have to let her go at the airport on Monday morning. He wanted more time with her. He didn’t want to ever let her go.
That thought made him sit up a little straighter. He was in too deep. He hadn’t even known that she existed a week and a day ago. Maybe it was just infatuation? He’d heard about that, knew that people got all caught up in the excitement of a new relationship – and that it wore off again afterward. It hadn’t happened to him before. In his case, the excitement wore off by the next morning. The few longer-term relationships he’d been in had felt like hard work. He’d never once found himself wondering what it might take – how he might need to adjust – to fit a woman into his life.
He checked the time. He didn’t know what Kolby would be up to, but he needed to talk to his twin. He dialed his number and waited.
“What’s up, Ty? I thought you were in Salt Lake?”
“I am.”
“So, why are you calling me? Oh … has it gone bad? Is she not what you were hoping for?”
He closed his eyes as he pictured her face, cheeks flushed, eyes shining, hair spread around her like a golden halo as she smiled up at him while he lay on top of her.
“She’s so much more than I was hoping for.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. She’s gorgeous. And I think she’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met. She’s down to earth, and Chance was right, she’s a real small-town girl. Get this, coming here was her first time on a plane! But she’s not clueless or anything. She’s … amazing!”
Kolby chuckled. “Awesome! But you know that raises the question of why you’re calling me. Why you aren’t making the most of every minute you have with her? By Monday evening you’ll be back here, and she’ll be a thousand miles away again.”
“Exactly. She’s in her meeting with Eli right now – I told you about that.”
“Oh, yeah, right. I can’t believe that Alma’s her adopted mom.”
“Yeah.”
“So, you’re just calling me to kill some time while you wait for her?”
“Kind of but … I wanted to ask you something.”
“Ask away.”
“When you first met Callie …”
“Yeah?”
“How did you … When did you know?”
“Know what? Oh shit! You’re serious?”
“I think I am, but I don’t know …” He let out a short laugh. “I’ve never been serious about a woman before. And I know you hadn’t before Callie so … how did you know?”
He could hear the smile in Kolby’s voice when he spoke. “I’m not sure I should tell you. I don’t want to lead you down the wrong path.”
“What does that mean?”
“That maybe you should figure out for yourself how you feel about her.”
“I know. I should, and I will, but sitting here waiting for her, I’m driving myself nuts. I … go on, tell me.”
“I don’t think I knew it at the time, although it didn’t take long for me to catch on. I tried to hold back for a while because of the situation …”
“For fuck’s sake, Kolb! Say it!”
His brother laughed. “All right! I think – and Callie does too – looking back, that it was love at first sight for us.”
Ty swallowed.
“And now you’ve gone quiet on me.”
Ty ran his hand over his face. “Because you don’t need me to spell it out.”
“I don’t. Damn, Ty! I didn’t expect this.”
“Neither did I. And … how the hell could it even work? She lives in California. We haven’t talked about it, but she’s mentioned a few times that we live a long way away from each other. She even asked me at one point if I’d ever leave the ranch.”
“You left for years.”
“Yeah, but we always knew we’d go home again when we got out of the Navy.”
“ You did. Are you saying that you wouldn’t leave again now that you’re home?”
“I … I don’t know what the fuck I’m saying!”
Kolby chuckled. “Do you need to yet? Just because you think you might be in love with her … damn, that sounds crazy – but crazy works. When you know, you know. But even if she’s it for you, and the flipside is, even if she feels the same way about you, there’s no rush, is there? You guys can take your time to figure out how you want to work it.”
Ty frowned.
“Or not?” Kolby asked.
“Yeah, obviously but … shit! If you weren’t my twin, I wouldn’t admit this to you.”
Kolby chuckled. “Go ahead. You know all your secrets are safe with me.”
“I know that technically, there’s no big rush but …” He hesitated. He could hardly believe that he was feeling this way. He had to wonder what Kolby would say.
“I’m waiting.”
“We could, in theory, take our time to figure out how we’re going to work it but … I’ve only been around her for twenty-four hours and it’s killing me that she’s up in that office with Eli right now. I’m sitting in the coffee shop across the road just counting the minutes till I get her back.”
“You’ve got it bad.”
“You have no idea!”
“Yeah, bro. I think I do. Like I said, I did my best to hold back with Callie in the beginning, but I was around her twenty-four seven. I couldn’t show how I was feeling, but she was rarely out of my sight. I don’t think I could have …”
“So, you get it?”
“Yeah, I get it.”
Ty blew out a big sigh. “I don’t want to move to Cali.”
Kolby chuckled. “Then plan to get her up here to visit and we’ll all do our best to show her that she could have a great life here.”
“Thanks.”
“You know everyone will do whatever they can to help you with that. None of us would be happy if you moved to Cali. Especially me. I only just moved home after all these years; I thought I had my twin back.”
“Shit!” Ty took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have gone there,” said Kolby. “If that’s what you need to do, I’ll be behind you. We all will, but damn ...”
“I know, right?”
“I don’t think you should worry about it too much yet. Focus on getting to know her – have a good time. If you’re right and she’s the one for you, you’re building memories that are going to last you a lifetime. Don’t waste a minute on worrying about the future – just enjoy the moment.”
Ty chuckled. “Thanks, wise one. I’ll do my best.”
“How long do you have till she’s finished with Eli?”
“She should be done at four.”
“What are you going to do till then?”
“Hang around in the coffee shop across the street and wait.”
“Hang on a minute. Callie’s here.”
“Hey, Ty! How’s it going?” Callie called.
“Great, thanks.”
“He thinks she might be the one!” said Kolby.
“So why are you on the phone?” Callie asked.
“Because she has an appointment, and he’s killing time.”
Ty smiled to himself. “I was just checking in. I’m going to end the call now.”
“What are you going to do while you wait for her?” Callie asked.
“I dunno.”
“You really think she might be your person?”
He smiled at the way she put it. “Yeah, I do.”
“Then you should get her something.”
“What kind of something?”
“I don’t know. Jewelry or … not necessarily something expensive, but something that’ll last. Something she can keep forever that will always remind her of the first time you guys met.”
Ty grinned. “Thanks, Callie. I love that idea!”
Kolby laughed. “I wish someone would’ve told me to do that for you.”
“That’s okay, you were too busy trying to keep me alive. But do it, Ty! Get her something – and like I said, it’s probably best if it’s not something expensive; you said that she’s a small-town girl, right? You don’t want to freak her out.”
Ty grinned. He loved that Callie understood. Then again, she was a small-town girl at heart, too.
“Thanks, Callie. You’re right about that. I’ll think of something.”
“I know you will. And tell her that we said hi, and we can’t wait to meet her, okay?”
“Will do. I’m going to go – I need to find a jewelry store, or something.”
He drank the last of his coffee, left the coffee shop and looked around. There weren’t many stores nearby and nothing that looked like it fit the bill, so he checked his phone. Apparently, there was a Tiffany’s but that probably wasn’t the best idea. He didn’t know much about jewelry, but even he knew that was a high-end store. He smiled, and promised himself that if this thing worked out the way he hoped it would, he’d buy her something from there one day.
It looked like there was a cluster of stores up near the Tabernacle. He checked his watch; he had plenty of time. He headed in that direction with a big smile on his face. That smile only grew bigger when it hit him that he’d never bought jewelry for a girl in his life. He’d been right when he told Shay that seeing each other for the first time was only one of many firsts for them.